


Come home brother..

by Crazyfornintendo



Category: Star Wars: Clone Wars (2003) - All Media Types, Star Wars: The Clone Wars (2008) - All Media Types
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-24
Updated: 2020-11-24
Packaged: 2021-03-10 00:07:15
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,539
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27694580
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Crazyfornintendo/pseuds/Crazyfornintendo
Summary: This is a short story using my Kamino Security gaurd, Crickette, and Kaminaon medic officer, Pops, a cadet Pup. If you have no clue who my Oc's are but are interested, you can find me on instagram @crazyfornintendo ! In this, Pops was sent on a relief mission but has passed the date he was due back. Where is he? Is he alright? Is he.. dead? All these thought run throughout Crickettes mind as he desperately awaits his brothers arrival back.
Comments: 4
Kudos: 3





	Come home brother..

Four...kriffing.. Days. Four kriffing days had passed since the date Pops was supposed to return to Kamino. And he was still MIA along with the whole fleet he took to deliver those supplies… So where was he? Lost? Dead? Trapped? Crickettes mind raced around all the terrible possibilities. He tried to think of one positive one…. But his mind ran too fast to even stop and think.

Pops had not reported entering whatever kriffing system he was supposed to report to. Crickette checked everyday for a report...each time the blue screen of the tablet read ‘TO BE REPORTED’. Each time he saw that he wanted to chuck the equipment across the room… but it was expensive, and Crickette didn't get paid.

_ ‘The kriffing rain is pouring….. Pops loved the Kriffing rain….’  _ Crickette had sat thinking that one afternoon as he stood at a desk and stared out the window Pops would stand at. His foot rhythmically tapping the white plastered floors. What terrified him most was the use of ‘love’ in past tense…. Like he had already accepted it..He shook his head. His hair was down but he hadn't even bothered to take off his armor. After his shift he had immediately looked out the window...looking for..something.

“Just tell me straight- is he dead or is he not?”Crickette had asked the supervisor everyday.

“ I'm sorry sir, but we have no intel to make a final report.”

“Kriff..”

Kriff, a word Crickette had gotten used to using. It's like it had replaced his whole vocabulary. Kriff… a word troopers only used when frustrated, angry, anxious, scared, or sad. At this point Crickette felt all those emotions….he hated it.

But what was the worst part of all… the most terrifying and gut wrenching part...was Pup. The little cadet constantly asked… everyday.

“When will he be back?”

“Soon.”At this point Pup was tired of that answer. It's what Crickette told him every time,

“How long is soon?’

“However long it takes.”

He had slouched and huffed,

“Well it's taking forever…”

Crickette bit his lip. How could he lie to the kid? But how could he tell him the truth? He knew why...cause he didn't know the truth either..

Crickette didn't sleep. He knew how Pops felt now. That one night, Pup had left his room and stood at Crickette’s bed side. Crickette looked at him with worry. Pup just looked down and hunched. Crickette hearts shattered when Pup lifted his head to show those big eyes now glossy with tears. He asked again,

“ _ When will he be back _ ?”His voice cracked. 

Crickette couldn't respond. Not with words. So instead he picked him up and cradled him like how he had seen Pops do. Pup had cried into his arms almost all night.

It was morning.. Still raining..Crickette was off shift. He spent the whole day with Pup. All they really did was talk, there wasn't much they could do. They both kept looking out the window, their heart twisting every time. They wanted to see something there… but at the same time.. They were terrified.

Afternoon, still nothing. Still  _ Kriffing _ raining. Staring out the same _ kriffing  _ window. Next to the same  _ kriffing  _ cadet. With the sam _ e kriffing _ armor. And the same _ kriffing  _ fear. He thought of leaving the window.. Maybe to eat.. But something  _ kriffing  _ new happened.

Crickette jerked his head towards the sound of a gunship landing in the rain..outside. A gunship… not a medical cruiser.. A gunship.. 

Crickette stood up fast. He looked at Pup.

“Stay here.. Ok?”

“ Is he back?” Pup had asked hopefully.

“Maybe..”Crickette had run out the room not even bothering to put on his helmet.

The door swooshed open as he ran out. The rain poured and the gunship soared through it all while trying to land. Crickette stopped among many curious troopers who were also waiting to see what was going on… and what brothers had survived it all. Same faces and same expressions. Most fear, other worry, some had determination, some even curiosity.

Crickette just looked panicked. His eyes shot from every trooper around, trying to identify if one was Pops. His heart felt like it had stopped but was also simultaneously pumping faster than ever at the same time.

The gunship landed, officers and medic raced there first. Troopers filled the sides of the docking deck. Medics shouted and pulled troops out. Crickette looked- he didn't want to see Pops not come out of that ship… But at the same time he had to.. To clarify..and just.. incase...He had to see him..

One of the medics pulled out a shaky naval officer. He looked terrible, his face droopy but his eyes wide with shock and when he saw his brothers faces again he laughed and his body went limp and stumbled into the medics arms. One other trooper came out. He had a calm expression on his face, but his eyes showed big relief, and Crickette could see his hands shaking. He had a gash across his arm and his face was bruised. The medics took him. He could see the trooper mouthing ‘i'm fine’ and the medics just looking at him and placing him on a carrier.

Crickette hope lowered and he felt a clog in his throat. His heart raced and his breath shook. He moved around the troopers trying to get a better view, his brothers murmuring among each other. He saw someone pull one last trooper out.

White scrubs, soaked in red. Shaky and uneasy movement. Tired dark eyes. Pained expression. He was holding his side and a medic had to help him out. He was walking oddly, he had clearly lost a lot of blood. Crickette looked for clarification… clarification it was him.

His forehead was bloody… but through the thick red blood… he saw the tattoo,

  
  


  * **+•**



  
  


It was Pops.

  
  


Crickette could feel his legs go numb like he was going to collapse but he stood tall. He stared at Pops whose loose clothing whipped through the wind and he tiredly blocked the rain from hitting his face. Crickettes hair was soaked from the hard pouring rain. Crickettes clog in his throat suddenly raised higher and he felt his eyes welled up with tears. He finally had taken in…. That was Pops.. he was alive.. He had made it…. He was back home...All of the blood in his body vibrated and he shook. His heart leaped in his chest feeling like it was going to shoot out of him. He let out a shaky breath.

“POPS!”His shout pierced through the pouring rain. Slicing through the murmurs and thunder. 

Pops immediately heard him. Even in his exhaustion he looked up, his eyes widened. He held his chest and when he saw Crickette he laughed, he actually laughed.

Crickette felt adrenaline build up in his body and he pushed past the troopers and started bolting towards Pops. His feet splattering against the wet floor as he raced across it.

“POPS!” He said, more relieved. 

Pops started to run as well, even with his limp and his pounding head that felt like it was going to explode he raced towards Crickette. Catching himself as he limped over. Pops was safe.. He was finally safe.. Crickette was right there, running towards him. Pops was no longer trapped in that ship.. No longer fighting for his life every second.. No longer cradling everybody he failed to save. No, he was finally home, back with his brothers, back with Crickette.

Crickette almost had enough force to knock Pops over once he came in contact. Crickette wrapped his arms around him holding him tight. Pops returned it quickly and squeezed him. The two were hysterically laughing and they tussled each other and ruffled each other's hair. Crickette patted Pops arm in excitement and practically hopped up and down.

They both shook violently out of relief, sadness, and stress. They laughed and put their foreheads together. Crickette shook as he laughed and Pops had begun to shiver. They were finally together again, two brothers, he had come home. Pops had never felt so safe, not after those 4 days, not after what he witnessed. Tears streamed down his face and he held crickettes forehead against his. He tried to laugh but they developed into sobs. They stayed like this until they had begun to breathe again. Pops patted Crickettes back and pulled him into a hug again. They two were finally calming down. They still laughed, maybe mixed with a bit of sobbing.

Finally Pops managed to say something,

“Brother..” He choked.

Crickette laughed and embraced him. Letting out shaky sighs and burying his face in Pops shoulder. Relishing his brother's survival, and presence.

Crickette never cried, he wasn't someone to cry. Not because he thought it wasn't cool or whatever he just never had a good enough reason to make him burst into tears. He had only cried one time up until this moment. He remembered why, it was awful- but this was different this time, it felt relieving. He could feel his eyes well up with tears and was surprised at their presence. He laughed through the clog in his throat. He started to shake more the harder he tried to hold them back until he buried his face into Pops arms and laughed as he cried. He took violent gasps of air as he sobbed.

“ You Kriffing jerk you're making me cry-” Crickette muffles as he laughs back tears.

Pops chuckled,

“My apologise for having to survive for days on a droid ridden ship, and almost DYING”

He laughed tiredly and Crickettes heart raced. 

He pulls away his eyes wide. He didn't even notice that Pops had a slash through his scrubs making the white red. Doused in his own blood. The gash went from his arms to his abs, his shirt torn in the area and barely hanging by a thread. He chuckles weakly.

Crickette looked down at his armor, where he had embraced Pops was blood that was being washed away by the pouring rain that splashed against them.

“HOLY KRIFF POPS.”

Pops laughs,

“I've been busy-”

His face suddenly dropped and he leaned forward, falling into Crickette barely being able to regain his balance due to blood loss. He moans and Crickette catches him.

“Hey, hey take it easy brother-”

Crickette laughs sadly and picks Pops up his arm around his neck and other arm under Pop’s legs. Crickette ran into the kaminoan building requesting for an emergency room to be opened up and a bacta tank set up, immediately.

Crickette bursted into one of the rooms and set Pops down who groaned as he held his chest. Crickette grabbed scissors and cut the rest of Pop’s shirt off to be ready for the medics to arrive.

Crickette stood back as the other officers flooded into the room and got to work. Pops smiled weakly at Crickette and reached his hand out. Crickette cup his hand around Pops, their fingers intertwined. He smiled weakly. He moved his mouth as if trying to say something and weakly forced out,

“T-tell….Pup….I-im.. Ho-home…”

His hand slipped off his as he went unconscious. Worry arose in Crickette but he nodded and left the room while the other medics got to work.

Crickette raced down the halls twisting and turning to dodge his other panicked brothers and the kaminoans. He felt each step he took and almost passed the room before skidding to halt and twisting around, frantically hitting the button so many times to open the door it might break.

The door slid open and he stumbled inside panting. He put his hands on his knees and caught his breath.

Pup spun around and stumbled up to him,

“What's happening? Is he ok? Is he home?” Pups eyes filled with desperation as he looked to Crickette for answers.

Crickette stuck his finger up, to tell him to get a minute which Pup desperately did. He took one last gasp and then knelt down and put his hands on Pup shoulders.

“Pops..is home.. He's home..,”He sighs and smiles, “though he was in a pretty bad incident-”

Pups eyes welled up,

“ _ Is he gonna die? _ ”

Crickettes eyes grew wide,

“Oh NO NO NO NO NO- no Pup, no he's gonna be ok-,” He pulled him into an embrace, “Hey hey now- look at me,” Pup sniffled and wiped his nose, “ hey, he's gonna be fine, he just got a bit banged up but.. He’ll be….”

He hesitated… he didn't really know if he would… but, he was Pops. The most stubborn man he knew. Pops could get a blaster bolt through the heart and wouldn't let himself die until his reports had been filled out for the week. So he had to believe he would be ok,

“Ok,” He smiled positively.

Pups' worried expression changed into a smile. His cheek glistened from previous tears but his eyes shined with hope. He giggled in relief and Crickette laughed along. They hugged and Crickette let out a sigh as he relished his little brother's warmth.

Pup pulled away,

“ When can we see him?” He asked eagerly.

Crickette sighed and ran his fingers through his hair,

“I dunno kiddo… it might be some time, but soon.” He smiled and so did Pup.

In the meantime of them waiting to go ahead to see him, Crickette cleaned up the mess he had left in Pop’s barracks. He cleaned Pops old scrubs, cleaned the blankets and pillows. And took care of all the empty kaff cups and whiskey bottles.

He laughed. If Pops had seen how much Crickette had drank in the past few days, he would grab each and every bottle and smash him over the head with them. Crickette smirked at the empty glass bottles, it would feel good to have his brother back to dealing with his kriffing nonsense.

A few hours passed, it was night time now. The two didn't sleep, they couldn't, they wanted to see Pops. They chatted all night, talked each other's ears off about random things. Until Crickette yawned and passed out leaving Pup to fidget still wide awake until he leaned on him and fell into the comforting darkness of sleep too.

Late in the afternoon, they were restless. Crickette paced around the room while watching the clock. It's like time had decided to tease him and go super slow for once just to spite him. He groaned. Pup practiced his algorithms he needed to memorize but he kept looking off and mentioned he couldn't focus. Not with something so painstaking to wait for.

Finally, medic officer, Quip, walked into their barracks. He smirked at Crickette. Crickette looked wide eyed,

“Can we see him?” He asked, his heart pounding.

Quip nodded,

“ He's relatively awake, after spending the night in a Bacta tank his wounds are relatively closed but I’d still be careful,” He smiled at Pup, “he's been asking for you.” Pup smiled wide, his eyes glistening.

“ Well then- what are we waiting for?!” Crickette laughs and Quip lead the two to the recovery room Pops was placed in

Crickette helds Pup’s hand as they walked down the halls, he had to stop Pup from racing off as he so often did. In response to that Pup practically dragged Crickette through the halls. So much determination in such a small body.

Quip slid open the door and patted Crickettes shoulder.

“You know what to do if there is anything wrong.” Crickette nodded hastily, Quip smirked, “I’ll leave you to it.”

And with that he left the two. Crickette raced into the room with Pup, and there he was. The man himself and all his exhausted glory.

His hair was still a bit wet from the bacta and his eyes were baggy, but that was normal. His hands were rested on his lap and his chest was now wrapped in bandages including his arm. When he saw them his dead face shone and grew life. His eyes grew wide and he laughed.

“POPS!”

Pup squealed excitedly and he let go of Crickettes hand racing over to his bedside. Pops laughs,

“Kid!’

Pup wiggles onto the bed but gets on top and wraps his arms around Pops neck as he sits on his lap. Pops laughs and wraps his arms around Pups body. Squeezing him tight, he missed this. 

He shook a bit as he embraced Pup who rubbed his face against Pops. Pops held the side of Pups head and shakily but gently kissed his forehead and then hugged him again. He took a heavy breath and shut his eyes tightly trying not to let more tears fall. Pup giggled happily as he bounced excitedly still in Pops embraced who from the look of it, wasn't ready to let go of him.

Crickette smiled sadly and moved to the other side of the bed,

“ Well that's more attention than I ever got.”

Pops eyed him with a hint of amusement in his eyes and shakes his head laughing his eyes glossy.

He finally lets Pup go and he immediately tries to rub the tears in his eyes. Stuffily he mutters,

“Kriff me-”

He chuckles and so do the other two.

He groaned and used both his hands to rub his eyes. He takes a sigh and looks at the two of them and smiles sadly,

“ Force...I missed you guys-”

His voice falters and cracks and he bites his lip. In response Crickette bends down and hugs Pops and so does Pup. Pops shakes,

“Ahhhhhh…..you guys...”

He mutters and laughs until he suddenly stops. Crickette can feel him shiver and feels Pops grip the two as he holds them close. He started to sob, intensely. Crickette closed his eyes and rubbed Pops back as he felt Pops tears soak his Blacks.

For 4 whole days, Pops had never felt so on edge. The crash was gruesome, but what happened after was even worse. The escape pods had been the first target...each one that was ejected, Pops watched get destroyed, right in front of his eyes. Then the hangar was attacked, closing any access to the pods. And, they crashed.

He remembers the crash, very clearly. He remembers the orders the officer spat ‘BRACE YOURSELVES!’ and then, there was a crunch and a huge noise. He remembers his body being lunged forward, as if all the air in his lungs escaped him at that point. He remembers hitting the walls. He still had the bruises. His ears rang, he couldn’t hear anything until he blacked out, and everything went quiet. Even worse, he remembers waking up next to one of his brothers. He remembers the absence of a feeling of a pulse against his fingers. He remembers his brother's eyes, which he had closed.

He remembered the days he spent stalking the halls with that shiny, Ranger. He remembers the naval officer him and Ranger had dragged back to a safe room. He remembers how they all huddled together in that safe room each night. The banging of some droids attempting to enter, the screams of their other brothers they had failed to save, and the wimpers of Ranger.

But most of all, he remembers that commando, the one that had cut through Ranger. He remembers the pure adrenaline and rage he felt. He had charged at the commando, he was thrown aside. The shrapnel had sliced across his chest. Never had he felt such stinging pain, and yet, his emotions overwhelmed them. He had stood up, chest gushing, and stared at the commandos dead, lifeless eyes, and said ' _ come at me CLANKER’.  _ He had dragged Ranger back to the safe room… but it was too late, Ranger died in his arms. Pops was starting to lose sight. The world around him began to go dark. He was dying. Kriff he was going to die- he promised Crickette he’d come back..looked like he wasn’t keeping that promise. He remembered the pure fear he felt, the fear that Pup would be tossed aside if he were not there..the fear of the pain the two would endure..he was dying..he couldn’t die- he can’t... He held the naval officer's hand, and the few other brothers in the room for comfort as he felt himself lose his life. But, he remembers the light, the shouting, the gunfire...of his brothers. They had been saved… everyone.. But Ranger.

Now in this emergency room, surrounded and embraced by his family, he never felt so safe. He was finally safe, he could finally think of other things other than his next move. That feeling had been overwhelming, which is why he had begun to sob uncontrollably.

Crickette moved and looked at Pops in the face,

“Hey.. we are here brother, you're ok now..” Pops nodded as his lip quivered. 

Crickette rubbed the tears off of Pops face and smirked,

“ Everything is ok now...you're home…. You came home.. brother.”

And for the rest of that night, Pops was surrounded by the warmth of his family around him. He was safe………  _ he _ was home.

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you for reading! Im still getting the hang of everything- so some feedback would be nice!


End file.
